Big Changes at Bishop Timon High School

My phone's been blowing up. I've received calls from the Buffalo News as well as 2, 4, 7, and the other station that repeats the same news every 20 minutes. Ok, so none of this is true and nobody really cares about what I have to say. But this is 2017 when anyone with a laptop and a 6th grade reading level can report on the news. I have to ask the question on many peoples' minds today. What is going on at Bishop Timon High School?

The school's Board of Directors decided not to renew the contract of principal Michele Battin after her first year at the helm. No public reason was given. A cryptic message on the school's website thanked her for her "years of service." Before becoming principal last year, Battin was a longtime, popular teacher at the school. Battin's firing has reportedly led to the resignation of the school's Athletic Director and football coach Charlie Comerford. 

Battin was a true asset to the school and the community and will be greatly missed. I've never heard anything but praise from her former students and colleagues. I'd be hard-pressed to find a valid reason for her to be let go. My sources tell me that someone from the Board of Trustees is using her as a scapegoat of sorts. 

I do admit the bigger sports teams (football and basketball) really did well over the last six years with Comerford running the show. So what if half the players were brought in from out of state. They did produce some good teams. Not so much the other sports, but how could they with such a small pool of students to choose from? 

It will be interesting to see what else comes out (if anything). Any school would be lucky to have Principal Battin next year and I'm sure she will land on her feet. The same can be said for Comerford, who did the admirable thing by stepping down. My sources tell me he's already received overtures from Fortune 500 companies IBM, Exxon Mobil, Bank of America, and AT&T, but will most likely end up in a politically appointed no-show position working for the City of Buffalo. 

http://buffalonews.com/2017/06/24/httpbuffalonews-com20170624comerford-resigns-ad-football-coach-timon/

Everything old is new again...

I thought this was kind of cool. The sport of rowing returned to Bishop Timon High School last Fall after a 36 year hiatus...

In rowing, the goal is to have all eight rowers row in perfect unison, at full pressure, with no time-outs once the starting gun is fired at the start of the race. Eight oarsmen, who have trained for years, rowing to exhaustion, for 2K meters, is the very essence of teamwork that builds a unique esprit de corps.

Assistant coach Tom Graham seems to have a very good grasp on the local history of the sport. My father rowed at Timon in the 1950's. Not sure, but I think Mel Palano may have been one of the coaches back then. What sport didn't he coach? Graham informs readers that the rowing program at Bishop Timon ended after a boathouse fire in Broderick Park in 1975...

The 1975 fire that destroyed the club’s original boathouse in Broderick Park ended the rowing program at Timon. Last September, after 36 years, the rowing program was started again at Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School. The Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association, Canisius High School and Buffalo Seminary made it possible because they let Timon use their rowing shells, oars, coach boats, trailer, indoor rowing machines and the BSRA facility.

Good luck to Mr. Graham and the Timon rowers. Thanks for bringing back this cool sport. Another reason for kids to consider attending the school...

Olympian mentors inspired me for life

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Jim Palano retiring from Bishop Timon

Jim Palano is retiring at the end of the school year after devoting himself to the students at Bishop Timon for 39 years...

"I gave it a lot of thought," he said. "A lot of it is my family — my kids are now out of town, my grandkids are out of town, my dad now spends half the winter in Florida. I've pretty much put Timon ahead of family all of my life, and I want to spend more time with them, maybe turn the page and flip-flop it a bit.

Like his legendary father, Jim Palano has really given his life to the school. I helped coach soccer a few years back and Mr. Palano was very supportive of our efforts. In my opinion, he always had the students' best interests in mind when making tough decisions involving all the various teams at the school. Following in his father's footsteps must have been very tough, but I thought he handled it well. Timon's a sports minded school and Mel Palano, who I still consider the best teacher I ever had, was a larger than life figure in the community. Coaching is not easy, and and Bishop Timon has had to overcome low enrollment numbers in comparison to the larger schools (St. Joes, Canisius, St. Francis). 39 years is an incredible amount of time to devote to one place. Mr. Palano was an excellent Phys Ed as well as Biology teacher when I attended the school in Prehistoric times. More importantly, those who know him, know him to be a stand up guy. He will be greatly missed by the community. Bishop Timon will not be the same without a Palano at the helm.
Palano in final season; Timon to be in good hands




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Running on empty

Bishop Timon got great yardage from a former rock artist to beat Randolph (I never heard of them either) 10-0 in a non-league tackle football game...

Jackson Brown rushed 13 times for 83 yards and the game's only touchdown as the Tigers got the win in a low scoring non-league contest...





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New coach at Timon

Congratulations to Bishop Timon High School on the hiring of their new football coach. I hear they got a young guy who went off to Holy Cross University and really made a name for himself in their football program. What was that? They didn't hire former South Buffalo Soccer player Frank Herlihy? Oh, I'm sorry. Never mind.

Get ready for the excuses to fly. Our girls' program is one of the smallest (numbers wise) in WNY, yet our teams are all at or near the top of their leagues. Building a program takes patience, intelligence, and hard work. Which city worker is going to be the new special teams coach? 3-6. 4- 5 if they're lucky.


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Timon race

The Bishop Timon 5K race was held last weekend. Congratulations to all the participants. From what I hear, there was record attendance at the race. Here are some pretty young ladies pictured with Buffalo mayor Byron Brown...


Pictured below is political opportunist Jeff Conrad. Jeff was actually having a great race. However, while passing Congressman Higgins' house, he suddenly stopped and went inside to paint Brian's toenails...

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Timon/South Park update

It looks like 9 players and the mascot(Sparky) from South Park were suspended for their role in a brawl against Timon on Friday. We haven't heard anything yet about Timon suspending anyone. Here is some footage of the brawl. If you're new to my site, please become a fan on Facebook...

south park vs. timon brawl from justin mcconnell on Vimeo.

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Timon/South Park Brawl

I missed the big brawl at the Timon-South Park football game last night. I heard Tiger and Sparky the mascot were even throwing punches. I was invited to the game by friends but I chose not to go. It's too bad because I would have had my video camera rolling for sure. But I actually don't regret my decision not to go. I just can't stomach all the back-patting on the sidelines by unimportant people trying to be seen. Hey, I got three pensions. How many do you have? What number are you on this list? My kid should be playing more. What the hell do these coaches know? Some of these people think they're in Hollywood, instead of a small town in Upstate New York. From the Metro Community News...

There was talk all week that this game was going to get out of hand. Things really heated up toward the end of the week with some incidents happening at both schools on Thursday night. Some will say they can see it just because the schools are so close to each other. The kids know each other and some kids who started their high school careers at Timon are now at South Park.

After the play had ended a South Park player kicked the head of a Timon player, which then started a bench clearing brawl. Coaches tried to get their players under control as the cops ran onto the field to try and break up what was going on.

It was an ugly display of sportsmanship by South Park as they were losing the game. Some could say that Timon should have kept their cool – since they were winning the game anyways.

Nothing like "unbiased journalism" from the Timon graduate who wrote this piece. Seriously, this kid graduated from there, like three years ago. Personally, I love brawls. If it was started by a few kids who had been kicked out of Timon, then I actually think it's kind of funny. I've heard a lot of different stories so far.

First, I heard some South Park students vandalized Bishop Timon on Thursday night. I talked to someone close to a Buffalo Police officer who was at the scene. He said it was just something minor written on the grass at the school. He said no charges were filed because it was just a harmless prank associated with the rivalry.

Now, I'm hearing some Bishop Timon parents showed up drunk to the game. Nothing like setting a good example to your kids. I also heard a South Park player missed a tackle and kicked the ground out of frustration. I'm not sure if he accidentally kicked a Timon player or if it was on purpose. Anyway, I'm sure there was trash talking that preceded the fight. The refs probably could have prevented things from escalating. They should use videotape and identify any parents that stormed the field. That is ridiculous.

From what I understand there is a non-league chess match scheduled for next week between the same two schools at Bishop Timon. Extra security guards from the Galleria Mall will be brought in. They will be checking spectators at the door to make sure they don't use their pocket protectors as weapons. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure..

South Park, Timon engage in ugly brawl | Sports | Metrowny.com

www.metrowny.com

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Great shot in Manhatten Cup playoff game

Check out Bishop Timon player Kyle Kobis as he makes a great full court shot at the end of the 1st quarter in the Tigers 76-50 loss to Nichols. The kids from Nichols forgot to play out the quarter as they were too busy maxing out their parent's credit cards...
Stunning full-court shot highlights Manhattan Cup playoff action : Sports : The Buffalo News